natus_nationfandomcom-20200214-history
Invincible Iron Man
Richard Shepard |composer = |starring = |voices = |developed = Shatara Studios |distributed = |basedon = by |rating = PG-13 |release = April 17, 2026 |runtime = |language = English |budget = |boxoffice = |pre = |succ = }}Invincible Iron Man, , is a 2026 American superhero film based on the character . The film is written and directed by Richard Shepard and produced by , Shatara Studios, and . A reboot, it is the fourth theatrically released Iron Man film and the second installment in the Ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film stars as , alongside , , , , , and . Premise , armored billionaire tech mogul, suits up as IRON MAN to investigate the disturbance of a lurking in Manhattan. Along the way, he partners with against her , only to discover there may be more connecting the two than it seems. Cast *' as ': A conflicted billionaire industrialist who inherited to design advanced weapons for military contractors and reclaims his technology by using a . Stark also has a drinking problem in the film, which is intended to adapt the " " storyline. Richard Shepard, a fan of the of the character stated that it was intentional to differentiate from the legendary portrayal of and to try and make this version of the character stand by itself. Due to this, the character's origin story will be omitted during the film, as Shepherd felt it was already iconic following the about the character. Like the comics, the character chooses to keep his public identity and alter-ego separate. *' as ': A self-made superheroine and love interest of Stark. A very compassionate person, van Dyne struggles with guilt following her father's death and is easily taken advantage of. She is described as the "heart of the film". *' as '; A government agent tasked with protecting Stark who may have ulterior motives. *' as ': A reluctant thief who opposes Janet. *' as Arnold Brock': An expert con artist, nihilistic eco-terrorist, and CEO of Mandarin International who seeks to restore the natural order from humanity and is obsessed with Tony Stark. He serves as a loose interpretation of Iron Man's archenemy the to avoid any negative stereotypes associated with the character and to differentiate from previous incarnations seen in (2013) and (2021). The character was partially influenced by from (2005) and Alan Jonah from (2019). *' as ': A trucker who has a deluded sense of self-worth who attempts to kidnap Janet van Dyne, inadvertently joining forces with Brock. Parks was characterized as a darker reflection of Tony Stark to motivate the character towards goodness. *' as '; Tony's stern father and the founder of . Future During production on Invincible Iron Man, Richard Shepard began developing ideas for a potential sequel involving as the main antagonist, which would pull inspiration from the 1981 comic book mini-series " ". Shepard later backtracked on the concept since Doctor Doom was already being established as the antagonist in other Ultimate MCU films. Relative to this time, Shepard acquired rights to develop a Ms. Marvel television series based on the character in which serves as a mentor figure to Khan. The series is loosely inspired by the 2013-14 comic book storyline " " and features , , and as antagonists with the former two being adapted as operatives using Stark technology to carry out experiments on . A sequel was eventually announced with Efron, King, and D'Agosto reprising their roles as Stark, , and Arnold Brock, while the villains were revealed as , a ex-mercenary operating a , and Imam Mouad Khouri, a cybernetically-enhanced who shares a history with Stark, with the latter being adapted from a one-issue comic book series, Iron Man: Season One, which was published in May 2013 to coincide with the release of the film . Shepard later cancelled a sequel after losing interest in the project but remained devoted towards developing the Ms. Marvel television series. A sequel to the film will now be developed by Trailblazer101. Trivia *The film pulls inspiration from cartoon and the comic series (2018-2020). *Richard Shepard, a "passionate fan" of the , wanted to explore a new interpretation following the character's death in (2019), but understood that "timing was everything" and decided to approach about the concept 5 years after the character's death in Endgame, for a release 7 years later. **Shepard also sought guidance from , director of (2008) and (2010), on how to approach his script treatment and work with . Favreau was also heavily involved in production and casting the title character. Additionally, director was consulted on the script and story narrative, and on how to have a younger iteration take up after a previous iconic one. *The was initially set to be portrayed as a stereotypical romantic figure by being very fantastical and nature-loving despite his use of technology (the Makluan Rings) and conformism (his cult) and is depicted as a Lawful Evil Anti-Villain. Conversely, is portrayed as a stereotypical enlightened figure by being very technically and scientifically oriented despite him embodying the Byronic Hero, which is a quintessential romantic trope and is depicted as a Chaotic Good Anti-Hero. This is supported by the fact that the first science fiction work was , which is a romantic piece, while a heavy influence on fantasy, , had subliminal messaging regarding mathematics and solving puzzles, a factor of enlightenment. *During production, Shepard decided to omit the political subtexts that have overarched the Iron Man mythos ever since its inception in the 1960s, taking up a task that few writers have been able to accomplish, especially with his . The intentional removal of traditional , techmongers, and terrorists as antagonists was done to supplement a revisioning of Iron Man's enemies as psychological opponents rather than thematic ones, with the being modernized to embody the Asian nerd stereotype and run a British entrepreneurship while the secondary antagonist, , was selected as a technological opponent over the first-picked Soviet . A flashback scene featuring Janet's father being killed by KGB agent to steal nuclear blueprints was also cut. Shepard felt that omitting Stark's war-torn origin story, which he deemed to be as iconic as the origins of , , and , would help further this agenda. **The concept of having a psychological opponent for Tony Stark / Iron Man to be challenged by was decided after the realisation that the have portrayed Stark's interpersonal conflict in a greater focus while the antagonists in the Iron Man trilogy have all been either one-dimensional evil businessmen ( , , and ), a stereotypical Asian terrorist figure ( ), or an embodiment of technological superiority between the and former (the conflict posed by ). Conversely, antagonists faced by Iron Man during crossovers, i.e. in (2016) and in (2018) proved as successful psychological foils to the conflicted protagonist, which further prompted Shepard to fully realize the concept in a standalone Iron Man film. Category:Films Category:Red Shogun Category:Marvel Category:PG-13 Category:Action Adventure Category:Science Fiction Category:Superhero films Category:April Category:2026 Category:Ultimate MCU Category:Shatara Studios